These drugs are taken by millions of people around the world to combat hypertension and heart and kidney ailments caused by diabetes.

Some of the most popular drugs used in hypertension would increase slightly the risk of cancer, but doctors warned it was too early to rule out these drugs, according to new research.

In an analysis of five previous studies that followed some 60.000 patients, researchers found a relationship between people taking drugs called angiotensin-receptor blockers and cancer.

These drugs are taken by millions of people around the world to combat hypertension and heart and kidney ailments caused by diabetes.

In the new analysis, researchers found that people who took the drugs had a 1% risk of getting cancer than those not taking. This includes a wide range of oncological diseases, such as prostate, breast and especially the lung.

85% of those taking telmisartan, sold under the trade name Micardis, manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim Corp. No difference in cancer deaths among people taking the drug and those not taking it.

The study was published Monday in the medical journal Lancet Oncology.

Although not provided funding for the study, Dr. Ilke Sipahi, its main author, was cleared earlier by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc., all of which produce anti-hypertensive pills. Others said they received similar grants from other companies.

“The risk to the patient as an individual is modest,” said Sipahi, deputy director of heart failure and transplant of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. ‘However, when viewed from the population level, millions and millions of people take these drugs and may cause many cases of cancer around the world.